Etymologically
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brigade

Etymology and origin of the French word brigade

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1370, Guillaume de Machaut
Borrowed from
Italian brigata
Ultimate origin
Italian (briga)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French brigade
English brigade

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bʁi.ɡad/[1]

Forms

brigade f (plural brigades)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian brigata (“troop, band”),[2][3][4][5] which named a military company in the 13th century and a team of workers in the 14th.[3] The Italian word comes from briga (“strife; company”), probably as the feminine past participle of a verb brigare that must have meant “to go in a troop”.[3][4][6] Guiraud links briga to Gothic *brikan (“to break”).[5] The same Italian family gave French brigand and brigue.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Guillaume de Machaut uses it about 1360–1370 of a band or company of people.[7][4][3]

Semantic evolution

Until the 16th century it meant any troop of people;[4][7] it was applied to armed troops from 1549, probably by a new borrowing from Italian, and the poets of the Pléiade first called themselves the Brigade.[4][3][7] The modern military sense, a unit of several regiments under one commander, is from 1789, and général de brigade is still in use.[4][3]

From the 19th century it spread to other groups under a head: a brigade of gendarmes (1835), a gang of workmen (1867) and kitchen staff.[3][1] The Brigades internationales fought in Spain from 1936 to 1938, and the Brigades rouges (from Italian brigate rosse) were Italian terrorists from 1970.[3][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1370 – A band of people (Machaut).[3][5]
  • 1549 – Armed troops.[4]
  • 1642 – Brigadier.[4]
  • 1789 – A unit of several regiments.[4]
  • 1835 – Brigade de gendarmerie.[3]
  • 1867 – A gang of workers.[3][1]
  • 1936 – The International Brigades.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (military) A brigade, a tactical unit within a division.[8][9]
  2. The smallest unit of the gendarmerie, or a police squad: brigade des mœurs.[7][8]
  3. A team of workers under a foreman.[8][1]
  4. (classical) A troop or band of people.[7][10]

Word family

  • embrigader
  • brigadier
  • embrigadement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 23, 97a
  7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Brigade.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/brigade. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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